Page 6 - MidWeek West - Dec 7, 2022
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DECEMBER 7, 2022
Aloha surfers and beachgoers,
There has been a run of surf for the north, west and windward shores. Nov. 29 and Dec. 3 brought big northwest to west-north- west episodes. However, just prior to that, there was a run of extra-large north to north-northeast swells that we haven’t seen since 1993. Waves reached 12-20 feet on the distant “mysto” outer reefs Nov. 24-26.
BY GARY KEWLEY
Pay Attention To Changes In Temperatures, Wind
Niño and I believe it’s going to be La Niña. That’s what National Oceanic Atmo- spheric Administration sug- gests — a 90% chance that the “little girl” will be in con- trol. Either way, just keep the surf coming, please. Happy holidays and happy surfing.
gary@surfnewsnetwork.com
Jonathan Huynh — a hard-core surfer buddy of mine and a superb Surf News Network forecaster — went out to Sandy Beach and gave a firsthand report. The sets averaged about 6-8 feet inside at Full Point, farther past Erma’s toward Makapu‘u. There were even crazy-big sets sweeping by in the middle of the ocean as the north-northeast swell
This is the third La Niña winter in a row, and this has only happened three times since the historical record started back to the 1950s.
It’s also related to surf. Thus, many surfers pay at- tention to which phase of ENSO we’re in. There are three phases, since there’s a neutral phase in the middle of the two continuums.
The Hale‘iwa Challenger had to wait four days before the surf switched from north to a west angle. Surfers love this Hale‘iwa direction and 6-10-foot-plus good winds. As of this writing, I don’t have any results but by the time you read this we will have a winner.
wrapped around Makapu‘u. Plenty of that energy does not make it to any shoreline, and maybe that’s a good thing.
erage ocean temperatures is known as ENSO (El Niño-Southern Oscillation). The phenomenon is un- known to most people, but to scientists and meteorolo- gists, it is well-known and studied.
low-average waves generat- ed. Conversely, we can have significant surf during a La Niña as we’ve seen so far this early season. Nature is far more nuanced and com- plex than meets even the cu- rious eye.
ting to go against the actual world’s best on the WCT next year. The final cut fea- turing the top 36 men and 18 women for 2023 will be set. Check surfnewsnetwork. com to find out who they are — then get ready to rumble next year.
This was quite a run, con- sidering that La Niña (the little girl) has been in charge of the tropical Pacific for more than a year. Usually, it’s El Niño (the little boy) that has the biggest, most consistent surf for the win- ter season.
ENSO is one the most im- portant climate phenomena on Earth, due to its power to change global atmospheric circulation — meaning tem- perature and rain — across the globe.
We got tons of mileage out of the La Niña two weeks ago for the seventh and fi- nal Challenger Series surfing contest of the season. This second tier out of three is part of the World Championship Tour.
It’s going to be a cra- zy-good year, no matter what — whether it’s La Niña or El
GQ, droppin’ in 4 U!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
La Niña happens when there’s an abnormal cooling of the water in the central and eastern tropics of the Pacific Ocean. El Niño is just the opposite, or slight- ly warmer than average. This flux or cycle between warmer and cooler than av-
Large North Pacific storms and swells are de- pendent on the strength of El Niño and on a weak El Niño season we may only see average or even be-
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